With seventeen minutes remaining the crucial away goal duly arrived and what a tremendous effort it was – Arjen Robben was left unmarked on the edge of the penalty area to volley an unstoppable shot past van der Sar direct from a corner.

United made substitutions but Bayern easily played out time to ensure for the first time in seven years there is no English representative in the Champions League semi-final’s.

For Bayern Munich the 4-4 aggregate result means it will be their first appearance in a semi-final since 2001.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson felt his team had been the better outfit over the two legs and was disappointed with the behaviour of the Bayern players in surrounding the referee for the dismissal of Rafael.

“They would never have gotten through had we played with eleven men. With eleven men it was no problem.

“The young boy was inexperienced but they got him sent off. Everyone sprinting towards the referee. Typical Germans. You can’t dispute that,” fumed Ferguson to ITV1.

The key issues were the goal before half time and then the young boy getting sent off.

Ferguson refused to use fatigue as an excuse, even with ten men.

“The problem was with the extra man, they made the ball work but I still thought we defended very well and it took an exceptional goal to finish the tie.

“Overall I thought we played better than they did on their own ground.”